In Hope and Festivities
by Forbidden Tomatoes
Summary: The chocobros attend the festival together, and Noctis has trouble expressing his feelings toward Prompto.


**Last Promptis fic I swear it I'll calm down. But okay we all know I'm lying. I wrote this for my friend's birthday, so happy birthday again to Gem!**

* * *

The festive spirit was almost palpable in the air when the crew stepped off of the boat and onto the welcoming grounds of Altissia. Children giggled and ran with their balloons past restless chocobos while adults chatted and wandered aimlessly through the streets. The boys were in the spirit, too; Noctis and Prompto had decided to go all out in their carnival shirts and hats, while Ignis and Gladiolus were taking a more relaxed approach in their casual clothes. All together, they looked like parents and their over-excited teenage children on vacation.

" _Oh. Em. Gee_. We're actually here!" Prompto clapped his hands together and bounced in excitement. "Look at all the chocobos, and the lights, and the _food_!" Noctis could practically feel the energy buzzing around Prompto as his smile only grew wider. "What do you guys wanna do first?" he asked.

Gladio laughed, not quite matching Prompto's enthusiasm but looking happy nonetheless. "How about we look around to see what they got?"

"Yes, this looks like a lot to take in all at once," Ignis noted. "Perhaps we should view our surroundings and decide on a schedule of what we'd like to do after we've seen all the options." He paused while Prompto gawked at him. "What?"

"Ugh, loosen up, Iggy!" Prompto visibly drooped in exasperation. "This one time. Just…go with it," he pleaded. "You have to."

Noctis nodded in agreement. "Yeah, just have fun, Ignis," he joined in. He knew Ignis needed this break as much as everyone else.

He still looked slightly taken aback. "I was only trying to make the experience more fulfilling for all of us," he said, "but if you would prefer running around with reckless abandon, be my guest."

Noctis had to hold back a laugh when Gladio slapped him on the back, causing him to stumble forward. "It's gonna be okay, Specs," he said. "If you wanna plan it out, I'll go with you."

Ignis straightened his shirt and cleared his throat, a light blush dusting his cheeks. "We'll see." Noctis thought he almost looked embarrassed.

As they moved to head towards the row of chocobos along the sidewalk, Noctis felt someone tap his shoulder. He turned his head to see Prompto, who made a small gesture to the other two walking in front of them. "They're totally gonna be a thing by the end of this. Guarantee it," he whispered. "Just look at them."

He had a point. Ignis and Gladio were keeping suspiciously closer to each other than normal, and Noctis didn't think it was a result of less walking space. In fact, he was fairly certain he'd noticed Gladio staring dreamy-eyed at Ignis on multiple occasions in the recent days.

"If he doesn't make his move soon, he's an idiot," Noctis responded.

Prompto covered his mouth with a hand as Ignis cast a raised-eyebrow look over his shoulder at them. The goofy grin on Prompto's face stayed even when Ignis looked away. Somehow it was contagious enough to put a smile on Noctis as well.

Noctis' attention changed directions when he almost stumbled right into a chocobo. The bird jumped back out of the way, leaving Noctis teetering over the edge of the sidewalk. He let out a startled yelp as he fell, preparing to warp to safety, but stopped short when he felt his shirt pull taut.

"Woah, I gotcha!"

The ground was soon back underfoot after he was pulled back up, and Noctis breathed a sigh of relief at his rescuer. "Thanks, Prom."

"No prob, buddy," Prompto said with a pat on his shoulder.

"Y'know, you could've just said you wanted to go swimming," Gladio remarked.

Noctis frowned, rubbing his neck under his shirt. "My bad, should've voiced that sooner."

The chocobo Noctis nearly bulldozed let out a soft _kweh_. Noctis turned with the intention to pet it and apologize, only to see Prompto with his arms already wrapped around the large bird's neck.

His friend had always done an extraordinary job of catching Noctis off guard, bringing heat to his cheeks and rendering him useless. So seeing Prompto giggling and hugging one of his favorite animals effectively knocked the breath out of Noctis.

To think he'd almost forgotten about his crush.

He was pulled out of his trance when Prompto called him over. "Noctis, I think she wants you to apologize," he said under a laughed, taking a step back to allow Noctis some room.

"Yeah, I-I was about to do that." With slower steps, Noctis approached the chocobo and pet her neck where Prompto had just been. "Hey there, girl. Sorry about that, I was a little distracted and wasn't watching where I was going." The chocobo pressed her head against the side of Noctis', and he laughed. "Guess I'm forgiven," he said.

"Group hug!"

Before he could react, Prompto had once again wrapped his arms around the chocobo—and Noctis. They just barely locked eyes through its feathers, but it was enough to make Noctis' heart speed up.

The smile faltered from Prompto's face. "Noct, you good there?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"You look a little shocked. The hat messing with your head or something?" he teased.

Noctis shook his head, desperately wanting to deter Prompto's thoughts away from him. "All good."

They left the chocobo in peace and returned to Ignis and Gladio, who had gone down the street to admire some of the docked gondolas.

Ignis barely spared them a glance when they approached. "What say we look around a bit? Give you all some time to prepare for losing the chocobo races," he said, the faintest smirk on his lips.

"In your _dreams_ , Iggy," Prompto retorted. "I'm definitely winning this time."

"Oh no, I'm beating both of you in this," Noctis interjected.

"Ladies, ladies, calm down," Gladio said. "No need to argue, it's obvious I'm gonna be the winner." He crossed his arms over his chest, watching with that smug smile he'd mastered as the other three shouted arguments and accusations at him.

Eventually the overdone aggressiveness of the conversation silenced when they noticed that the other carnival-goers were beginning to stare.

Prompto was the first to speak up again. "Uh, maybe we should see about those other activities now."

"Yeah."

"Let's do that."

"Sounds good."

The group made their way down the sidewalk once more, their excited energy restored. Gladio and Prompto both practically forced Noctis to dance along with the person in the moogle costume, which was not the most proud moment of his life. Out of embarrassment and spite, he made Gladio do it as well. Much to his annoyance, he actually looked like he was having fun doing it. So much for revenge.

Prompto led the way up the nearby stairs, stopping short when he passed a poster situated on a small board. "No way," he said incredulously. "There's a photo challenge!"

While Prompto excitedly scanned his finger over the list of subjects, Noctis glanced over his shoulder to see Gladio tapping his foot in rapid succession, staring intently at the back of Ignis' head. He was most definitely thinking about confessing to Ignis, no doubt about it.

"Hey, Prompto, you and I should go see about those pictures," Noctis said, his lips quirking up in a smile as Gladio snapped back to reality.

"Seriously? Hell yeah!" Prompto exclaimed. He was fiddling with his camera before he even finished his sentence.

Turning back to Gladio and Ignis, Noctis crossed his arms. "You guys go find something to do. We'll meet up at some point later."

Ignis gave a curt nod. "If that's what you want, then alright. Don't go getting into too much trouble," he warned, though it was a lighthearted remark.

"You heard that, Gladio? Don't get into trouble," Prompto joked, earning an indignant frown from the larger man.

"Yeah, whatever."

They agreed to try and find each other around the arena in roughly two hours, and the pairs went their separate ways. It was only when Prompto flashed him his sunshine smile that Noctis realized he'd accidentally sealed his fate—he was alone with the person he was in love with for the next two hours.

Much to Noctis' relief, nothing drastic happened in the first half an hour of searching for photo spots. He did his best to help find the things on the list, but Prompto always spotted what he needed and bolted to it without warning. If anything, Noctis was trailing him as his support system. At least he helped with finding scattered Choco-Mog medallions on the ground.

"Hey, Noct, there was something about a guy in a chocobo outfit, but-" Prompto did a quick turn, "-that's most of the people here."

Noctis glanced around. He was right; most of the workers were wearing yellow, and it had been a while since the two of them had seen the face on the poster. "Well, next time we pass up the pictures, we can check again," he replied.

Prompto let the camera dangle from his neck. "Sounds good to me. Where to now?"

Noctis shrugged. "Up the stairs?" he suggested.

"Then up we go!"

They made small talk as they meandered their way up whichever staircases they came upon, dodging the couples and groups of people that dotted the area. It made Noctis happy to see Prompto so casual and excited. Stress had been visibly getting to him lately, and they'd all noticed. Now, at least, they could enjoy their time and have fun. Even if it was secretly driving Noctis insane not to kiss him.

"Oh, Noct, there's some musicians up there!"

He was right; there was a small group around the center fountain, playing out an upbeat jazz number. Noctis found himself almost swaying to the rhythm, but stopped short.

While Prompto was admiring the saxophone solo, a slightly disheveled man in yellow caught Noctis' attention. He was tapping his foot rapidly and rubbing his temples under the chocobo hat he donned, overall looking extremely troubled.

"You think that guy needs any help?" Noctis muttered to Prompto, having watched him for several more moments.

Prompto diverted his attention from the musicians to follow Noctis' gaze. He pursed his lips in thought. "Probably. Let's go see," he decided.

The man's head snapped up when they approached. He was speaking before Prompto even got the chance to open his mouth. "Excuse me, sirs, have you seen any chocobo chicks trotting around?" he asked. He sounded frantic, and didn't do well hiding his embarrassment.

"Baby chocobos?!" Prompto exclaimed, attempting to regain his composure immediately after. "Well, uh, I _wish_ we had. They're tiny and adorable and-"

"What he's trying to say is we haven't seen any," Noctis interjected, giving Prompto a pat on the shoulder. "Why?"

The chocobo hat man continued glancing around, as if he could spot them nearby at any second. "Well, I brought my prized chicks to the carnival, but, y'know, they flew the coop."

Had he honestly not realized that the birds can jump?

"How did you manage that?" Prompto changed his wording after a flick to his arm. "I-I mean, you want us to go find your chocobo chicks?" Noctis almost laughed at the way Prompto's lips were pulled taught in a straight line; he was desperately trying to hide a grin.

The man nodded. "If it wouldn't bother you too much."

Seeing as Prompto was ready to explode, Noctis quickly stepped in front of him. "I think we can manage that," he said smoothly. "How many are we looking for?"

With a sigh, the man shook his head. "Fifteen."

"Fifteen?!" the boys said in unison.

"Of course if it's a hassle, I could try to-"

"On it!"

Prompto was already heading for the nearest stairwell, of course.

Noctis said a quick word of affirmation to the man and hurried back to Prompto. "So, you ready to catch some chocobos?" he asked, knowing full well the answer.

"You know it!" he replied. "I've never been more ready for anything in my entire _life_."

"Sure about that?"

"Positive."

Descending down the stairs, it didn't take long to spot their first target. The small yellow bird stood unsuspecting near the far wall. It was surrounded, and there was no way the both of them could miss it.

Noctis held up his hand to wait as they inched their way towards it, two hunters closing in and waiting for Noctis' command.

"Now!"

They sprang forward together, reaching for the runaway baby. They had managed to underestimate how fast it would react, and both came up empty. It continued sprinting in a zigzag line away from them, dodging legs and heading for the bend in the sidewalk.

Prompto, already giving chase, yelled, "After it!" It didn't take long for them to corner it again.

This time, Noctis jumped in its path first, causing the bird to circle around and run straight into Prompto's open arms. He scooped it up with a triumphant holler.

"Second time's the charm," Noctis remarked.

Prompto beamed as he held it snugly to his chest. "Isn't this the cutest thing ever?" he asked excitedly.

"Yeah, it is." Prompto and a baby chocobo was a pretty damn cute mix in Noctis' opinion. "One down, fourteen to go."

It took a moment for Prompto to calm the chocochick down, but with Noctis' help they managed to bring it back to the man who had, understandably now, lost them all.

Only after chasing down eleven more of them did Noctis and Prompto take an actual break. They found a bench and collapsed onto it, panting from the heat.

"I know I've always said that I want to grow old and own seven chocobos," Prompto gasped, "but I take it all back."

Despite the exhaustion he was feeling, Noctis laughed. "I dunno, I think I'd have a pretty hard time getting you to go home without one."

Prompto playfully hooked an arm around Noctis, laughing with him. "What, you're gonna live with me just to monitor my chocobo obsession?"

"Yup. Better start making room." Noctis swallowed the realization that he'd just said he would willingly move in with him. Almost too close.

They continued laughing together, talking about whatever came to mind and eventually getting to how they thought Ignis and Gladio were holding up.

"That big guy _has_ to have said something by now," Prompto pointed out. "He's not the kind of person to wait that out, right?"

"Doesn't seem like it. But Ignis can be pretty intimidating to talk to, especially if it's something that big," Noctis said. But Prompto was right; Gladio shouldn't have a problem with it. "You think Ignis likes him back?"

Prompto snorted. "Duh. I can't picture what the guy would act like if he didn't."

"Me neither."

For a few minutes they just sat and soaked in the sounds of the festivities going on around them. Out of the corner of his eye, Noctis watched Prompto flip through the pictures he'd taken so far. Was that a picture of him? When had he taken that?

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a little girl crying. Noctis stood up, looking around until he saw her. Prompto followed suit when he began walking over to her, looking just as concerned as he was.

Noctis approached her tentatively, getting down on one knee to see eye-level with her. "Hey there, you doing okay?" he asked.

The little girl sniffled and pointed at a set of balloons that were heading towards the roof of a nearby building. "My balloons got away," she mumbled.

Not wasting a moment, Noctis whipped around and warped in a flash, landing soundly on the ground soon after, string of balloons in hand.

"There you go," he said with a smile.

She clapped excitedly. "Thank you!" she said, taking off in down the steps.

"Aw, Noct," Prompto said. "Always such a hero." He pretend-swooned, and Noctis shrugged, his smile growing a little wider.

"What can I say, I'm trying to impress."

As they continued wandering nowhere in particular, nabbing two more of the chocochicks on the way, they two found themselves at the gondola port that led to the Galviano Arena.

"Hey, wanna go check out the games over there?" Noctis suggested. "I think they have one where you have to shoot targets.."

Prompto lit up. "Oh, what? Heck yeah, I'm up for that."

Once they reached the arena, Prompto made a beeline for the Tiromatto game. He read through the objectives, which basically stated that he needed to hit enough targets without overheating the gun in order to gain enough points. Not to Noctis' surprise, he chose the hardest level.

"I can make 35,000 points, easy," he assured. Noctis believed he could, but he wasn't entirely sure he should be comparing the carnival game to his real gunmanship skills.

Noctis crossed his arms and leaned forward against the railing as he watched Prompto ready himself for the challenge. The moment the buzzer went off, Prompto was wiping out a line of targets almost too fast for Noctis to see.

"Damn," he whispered to himself. He really was good.

In no time, Prompto had taken down a hefty number of targets, including a few small daemon-shaped ones. When the final one dropped, Noctis was over the rail on his toes in anticipation.

Even though he couldn't see it from where he was, Noctis could picture the smug look on Prompto's face from the thought of besting the game. He was probably too into it, which is why he ignored the warning plume of smoke emitting from the gun.

Noctis was about to shout out to him when the smoke overtook the weapon and it exploded in a small poof. He winced seeing Prompto cough and air the excess smoke away with a hand.

The game officially ended, and Prompto stepped out of the little arena, smiling sheepishly. "Guess I got a little carried away, there," he said with a cough. His face was a layer darker now, smudged where he'd rubbed it. When he took off his hat to jostle his hair back into it, his hair stuck up in way more directions than it was supposed to. Gods, he was adorable.

"You alright, Prom?" Noctis asked.

Prompto gave a thumbs up. "Yup. Still got enough points to pass!"

"Seems you did," he agreed. "Nice going."

"Aw, thanks." Prompto made a move that seemed like he was going in for a hug, but quickly switched to lay a hand on Noctis' shoulder. "You should start my cheerleading squad."

They headed back to the gondola, Noctis wondering about that aversion. Prompto had never really shied away from him before; was he acting too unfriendly? He needed to clear that up, which only added to the burden of confessing to him in the first place.

On their way, Noctis overheard two women saying something about a voucher for seeing the fireworks. He knew he had to tell Prompto today, and he thought he had a way to do it.

The ride back to Port West Station was calm. The small passageway was still a wonder to Noctis, how it was meant to fit the gondola's size.

"Man, the confetti doesn't stop falling, does it?" Prompto was staring up to the sky, tracing the falling patterns of a few individual strands of confetti with a finger. "It's kinda cool."

"Yeah," Noctis replied. "I didn't know they even had this much confetti."

"Heh, it's almost like the Astrals are pouring buckets of it down on us."

Noctis found himself again staring wistfully at his best friend. "Uh-huh," he said absently. He was bracing himself for a rejection, but still holding on to a shred of hope that his feelings were reciprocated. All he could wish for was to not embarrass himself too badly.

Both of them had forgotten to check the time on how long they had before they were to meet up with Ignis and Gladio. However, it seemed they other party had paid no mind to that, either.

"No way." Prompto gawked across the way. Noctis followed his gaze to where their friends were walking through the crowd of people. _Holding hands._

"We called it," Noctis pointed out.

Prompto laughed. "Oh, man, I can't wait 'til we see them later. Not letting them hear the end of it."

Noctis nodded. "How do you think he did it?"

"Gladio? He probably thought of doing some grand thing for, like, five seconds," Prompto said. "I think he just gave a short speech and messed up half of it. Just ended up saying 'We should go out'."

The two disappeared from sight, not to be seen for who knows how long. "How would you have done it?" Noctis asked. The curious side of him had to know.

"Me?" Prompto leaned against the wall, averting his gaze as a look of melancholy crept its way onto his face. "Don't tell anyone, but I'm not sure I could ever confess first to the person I like. Too embarrassed to find out it's one-sided."

Noctis frowned. "Is it Cindy?"

"What-" Prompto stopped, breaking out into a laughing fit. "No, no, it's not Cindy." He sighed. "I think I had a crush on her at first, but she's more like a weird sister to me, now." He grinned once more. "You're a riot, Noct."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine. But what if this mystery person told you first?" The small glimmer of hope still took control, wanting to make Prompto's fantasy a reality in any way he could. "How would you want that to happen?"

"Nah, you don't wanna hear about-"

"Too bad. It's a 'what if', so you have to answer it." Noctis gave him a playful punch to the arm, and Prompto shook his head with a chuckle.

His friend's expression grew thoughtful. He looked down at the ground, tapping his foot slowly while Noctis waited. "Honestly, I don't really care how. I'd just love hearing that they, uh..." He finally looked up, staring straight into Noctis' eyes and catching him off guard. "Y'know...love me back."

In that moment, Noctis felt his heart stop. He didn't care if it was wishful thinking or the truth, because Prompto was speaking to him just then. And he needed to say something back.

"Hey, Prompto, I-"

"Hold that thought, Noct. The last one's right there!"

Noctis was left trailing off, rooted to the spot as Prompto dashed towards the last of the chocobo babies.

With a sigh, he shook his head clear of the words he was about to speak and chased after him.

Noctis was the eventual capturer. The chick let out a soft _kweh_ , burying itself into his arms. "Woah, there, buddy," he laughed out.

"Aw, so cute. Hey, lemme take a picture of you two," Prompto said enthusiastically.

"Sure thing."

The bird safely in his grasp, Noctis offered a smile to Prompto and the camera. When he heard the shutter snap, he started to turn towards the staircase to bring the chick back, but Prompto jumped to the side of him and held up the camera once more, holding up a peace sign and snapping another shot.

"Two for the album, I think." Prompto boasted. "Okay _, now_ let's go."

For the second time, Noctis headed for the stairs. Once they returned the last chocochick to the man, Prompto said a final goodbye while Noctis accepted a few medallions from him.

"How many of these things do we have?" Noctis asked as they made their way back to the Palsino Station.

Prompto fished around in his pocket—he was in charge of holding the medallions—and produced a handful of coins. After searching all his pockets and adding them to the ones Noctis just received, they came up with thirty-eight.

"You up for hunting down a few more?" Prompto challenged.

"Dunno about you, but I'm getting those by fishing."

They started towards the nearest fishing spot while Prompto laughed. "Of course you are," he teased. "You'd get a hundred if you could."

"Hey, don't tempt me."

It was beginning to get dark out when Noctis first cast his line. Prompto contributed most of the commentary while Noctis fished. He'd tease him about the size of the fish, Noctis replying that he couldn't control what was in Altissia. After his sixth fish, Noctis recast the line once more. "This one's gonna be the best, promise."

"Alright, if you're moving in with me to keep my obsessions in check, I get to do the same to you. You'll have a fishing limit," Prompto announced.

Noctis frowned, glancing at him over his shoulder. "What? Unfair."

Something tugged on the end of the line, and Noctis flicked the pole upward to catch the hook in its mouth.

"Plenty fair. You like fishing too much," Prompto pointed out.

"Nope, not possible," Noctis said with a soft grunt as he reeled in the fish. This one was stronger than the other ones.

Prompto moved closer to the edge of the water, watching as Noctis fought to bring the fish in. "Definitely possible," he replied.

The fish leapt into the air, nearly taking Noctis' pole with it. He took a step back and continued reeling it in while Prompto shouted.

"Dude, what the hell was that?" he questioned. "Get it!"

When Noctis finally wore it out enough to bring it up, he smiled triumphantly. It took both hands to haul it out of the water, but Noctis held up the Tide Grouper with pride above the dock. "Told ya," he said to Prompto, who was staring at it with wide eyes.

"Fine, I take it back. Not saying you're not obsessed, but you can have your fishing freedoms."

"Thanks. Means a lot."

Noctis turned in his fishing pole and searched the ground for the last few medallions they needed. Once Noctis counted out fifty, he led Prompto to the shop counter.

"What's this for, anyway?" Prompto asked. "You could get a pretty good amount of potions for that."

Handing over the medallions to the lady at the counter, Noctis shook his head. "Not potions. These are for the fireworks."

Prompto looked surprised. "I thought anyone could see the fireworks."

Noctis folded the lodging voucher and shoved it in his pocket. "Yup, but now we get to see it on the water _and_ we get to stay at the Leville," he said, hoping the fact that it sounded like a date wouldn't scare away Prompto or weird him out.

To his relief, Prompto still looked as excited as ever. "Woah, sweet! Isn't the show starting soon?"

"Yeah. C'mon, let's get going."

The water reflected the night sky brilliantly, its dark surface dotted with countless lights from the city. Prompto had long since readied his camera, now staring out across the water with a look of excited wonder. "Ignis wasn't lying when he said this place was gorgeous," he said, half-turning to face Noctis. "Super cool at night, don't you think?"

"Yeah, it is." He had to admit, it was definitely a wonder to look at.

But now, he could only see Prompto. Beautiful, handsome, fun-loving Prompto. His best friend for years, the guy who loved all things chocobo and wanted to be a photographer, who stood by his side in every situation. Noctis had never been the most poetic in his choice of words, and he couldn't recite everything he loved about him in a way that would move a crowd. Still, he couldn't go on without saying something.

 _If you don't make your move soon, you're an idiot_ , he told himself, using the same words he'd said about Gladio earlier. It worked out well enough for him.

"Hey, Prompto," he started. He swallowed the nerves rising up in his throat. Damn, he hadn't felt this scared in a while.

Prompto put his camera down. "Yeah?"

It was now or never. Noctis took a deep breath. "You've, uh, probably noticed that I've been kind of a mess today."

"A little. You've been on and off looking like you're on the verge of passing out," he said. "You tired again?" Prompto moved to sit next to him on the bench in the back of the gondola.

Noctis shook his head. "No, it's not that. I was just really...nervous, I guess. I've been meaning to tell you something lately, but I couldn't find the time, or the place, and then you kept doing things that made it worse-"

"Shit, did I do something wrong?" Prompto asked, at once looking frantic and concerned.

"No, no, not like that!" Noctis assured. "Crap, I'm really bad at this," he muttered to himself.

Noctis forced himself to look into Prompto's confused eyes. This was the hardest part. "Prompto, we've been best friends for years. I think I started to notice some time ago that you mean more to me than an old friend." He held his breath, watching Prompto's expression go unreadable. "So, yeah, I like you. A lot."

He braced himself for Prompto's words, but was only met with sniffling. It hadn't been that bad, had it?

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Noct, you idiot, don't apologize," Prompto said, wiping his eyes as a smile broke out onto his face. "That was really good."

Not exactly sure how to respond, Noctis only tilted his head. "Huh?"

Next thing he knew, he was being pulled into a kiss. His arms wavered by his sides in shock for several moments before his mind caught up. With a sense of relief and happiness washing over him, Noctis allowed his arms to wrap around Prompto as he returned the kiss.

The brim of Prompto's hat hit his own, knocking it off and causing both of them to laugh into the embrace.

"Sorry," Prompto said behind a laugh.

"Whatever, it's a really stupid had," Noctis replied.

They met in another kiss as the fireworks show began. The bright flashes of light illuminated the two of them in each other's arms in an array of colors. By the time of the finale, they were staring up at the sky together, hand in hand.

"Oh, man, we completely forgot about the chocobo races," Prompto said near the end.

Noctis shrugged. "We still have time tomorrow."

"I guess so. Ready to give Iggy and Gladio a run for their money?"

"I'm still gonna beat all of you."

Prompto gasped, feigning shock. "My own boyfriend won't even let me win? How disappointing."

Noctis tried to suppress a smile at being referred to as his boyfriend, but ultimately failed. "Maybe I'll go a little easy on you. Maybe."

"Good enough," Prompto complied.

`The fireworks finished off with a huge bang. Every inch of the sky was parted for the show, shrouded in plumes of smoke when the colors dissipated.

The gondola began its way back to the docked ones. Prompto yawned, a contented smile on his face. Noctis was really looking forward to the rest of the carnival, but first, he was ready to sleep.


End file.
